Who is Gabri Veiga? The Celta Vigo wonderkid wanted by Man Utd

Jacque Talbot

Updated: 23 May 2023 09:09 CDT
3 min read

FootballTransfers revealed that Manchester United were after a number of attackers in the upcoming market.

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Now the club have been linked to a fresh name - Celta Vigo's young star Gabri Veiga.

It’s been a quick rise to the top. The 20-year-old has been playing well in the campaign post-World Cup, a 'revelation' according to Spanish outlet AS.

But just who is the youngster and is he the sort of player that Erik ten Hag would want to bring in?

From 1285 minutes of play, Veiga has scored eight goals and provided three assists from central midfield. It puts his non-penalty goals, quite incredibly, at 0.52 per 90 mins.

His non-penalty xG generates to 0.29 per 90 mins on average, while his shots is at 2.93 at the same time.

Carlos Carvalhal deploys a 442 and puts him on the left side of central midfield. Given his aptitude for goal, he is encouraged to come forward and forge an attacking trio in behind Jorgen Strand Larsen and veteran Iago Aspas, who's leading the line.

Of course, such attacking intent speaks of a player who doesn’t perform many defensive actions in a match: and indeed, this is true of Veiga, who lows fall for progressive passes (4.68) and tackles (2.08) in his position.

But the Spaniard is a keen dribbler: making 4.68 progressive carries per 90 and 2.93 touches in the attacking third.

Along with his technical ability, his eye for goal, his 5 ft 8-inch height and his nationality, you can strike many similarities between him and a young David Silva when he was at Valencia.

© ProShots - David Silva went on to be world class

Veiga, who did not even have a squad number at the beginning of the campaign, is now linked to Man Utd and Arsenal.

h2>Celta Vigo value youngster high

Celta Vigo are said to demand a big fee for him - perhaps, even, generate a record transfer fee if he was to be sold in the summer.

Veiga's contract with Celta does not expire until 2026, so the Spanish club have some room to manoeuvre on that front.

FootballTransfers values Veiga at €11.4m, a huge increase from the €1m he weighted at this time last year.

Ten Hag has a fascination with character as well as ability. For a deal to be done, there would be rigorous due diligence on the player from the club's end. But right now, he has all the attributes of a future star and no elite club will want to miss out.